Indian market snapped its two days of gain and tumbled due to huge selling across the board. Weakness continued during the trading session on the back of weak global cues and sustained selling by foreign funds. Along with that fears of recession and deteriorating corporate earnings dragged down equity markets all over the world. Domestic markets opened sharply lower tracking nervousness in global markets. The US markets fell on sharp sell off and on feeble earnings. Market slipped further on the back of profit booking as well as weak Asian markets. Further, stocks continued to trade sharply lower to end with huge losses. BSE Sensex ended below 10,200 level along with NSE Nifty below 3,100 mark. On the sectoral front, most of the indices remained under pressure and among those, Metal, Oil & Gas, Capital Goods, Bank and IT stocks witnessed most of the selling from these baskets. However, FMCG stocks were in limelight. Profit booking was also witnessed in Midcap and Smallcap stocks.

Among the Sensex pack 28 stocks ended in negative terrain while 2 in positive. The market breadth was negative as 1733 stocks closed in red while 778 stocks closed in green and 77 stocks remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex closed lower by 513.49 points at 10,169.90 and NSE Nifty ended down by 169.75 points at 3,065.15. The BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps closed with losses of 96.85 points 3,490.39 and by 84.59 points at 4,111.69. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 10,484.85 and intraday low of 10,128.22.

The market witnessed an across-the-board selling, as the sentiment remained bearish on the back of liquidity squeeze in the domestic market and a sharp fall in the Asian indices. Sustained selling in metal, realty and banking stocks too added pressure on the domestic indices. The major Asian indices like Hang Seng (Hong Kong), Kospi (South Korea), Straits Times (Singapore) and Nikkei (Japan) shed over 5-6% each. After resuming 228 points below its previous close at 10,683, the market remained under the grip of sustained selling pressure. Extensive correction in heavyweights and index pivotal stocks towards the close dragged the index to the day's low of 10,128. The Sensex finally ended the session at 10,170, down 513 points, while Nifty shed 170 points to close at 3,065.

All the sectoral indices were hammered on the back of relentless selling pressure. The BSE Metal dropped 7.90% at 5,619, BSE Realty lost 7.57% at 2,433, BSE Bankex shed 5.78% at 5,504 and BSE Oil & Gas fell 5.56% at 6,398. The broader market was weak. Of the 2,588 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,732 stocks declined whereas 780 stocks advanced. Seventy six stocks ended unchanged.

Except ITC and Hindustan Unilever, all the stocks in the Sensex basket ended in the red. Among the major losers, Tata Steel tanked 12.04% at Rs244.80, Sterlite Industries tumbled by 10.04% at Rs265.10, Reliance Communications declined by 8.79% at Rs235.50, ICICI Bank slumped 8.04% at Rs396.45, Jaiprakash Associates fell 7.88% at Rs72.50, Tata Motors plunged 7.87% at Rs228.25, Bharti Airtel dropped 7.76% at Rs667.40, Mahindra & Mahindra slipped by 7.14% at Rs379.35 and ACC was down 7.11% at Rs452.15. Other front-line stocks were down 4-6% each.

Nifty October 2008 futures were at 3051, at a discount of 14.15 points as compared to spot closing of 3065.15. NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment turnover was Rs 50,046.83 crore, which was higher than Rs 49,845.05 crore on Tuesday, 21 October 2008.

NTPC October 2008 futures were at discount at 143.85 compared to the spot closing of 144.30.

Reliance Industries (RIL) October 2008 futures were at discount at 1312.90 compared to the spot closing of 1316.80.

Bharti Airtel October 2008 futures were at 666.75, near the spot at closing of 666.25.

In the cash market, the S&P CNX Nifty lost 169.75 points or 5.25% at 3065.15.

Shanghai, Hang Seng extend losses while Nikkei also enters the losers club with 6.7% fall

The stock markets across the Asian region closed lower after Wall Street fell overnight on profit taking from recent sharp rises and recession fears following disappointing earnings reported by big name companies such as Dupont, Caterpillar, and Texas Instruments. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day down by 231 points, to 9,033. The Nasdaq Composite Index finished lower by 73 points at 1,696. S&P 500 finished lower by 30 points at 955.

Crude oil prices fell for a second day after the U.S. dollar climbed to a 20-month high against the euro, reducing the appeal of commodities as a hedge. Crude oil for December delivery declined as much as $3.28, or 4.5%, to $68.90 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and traded at $69.10 a barrel at 2:33 p.m. Singapore time. The November contract expired yesterday, after declining $3.36 to settle at $70.89 a barrel. Prices, which have tumbled 53 percent from the record $147.27 on July 11, are down 21 percent from a year ago.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar fell against the Japanese yen. The U.S. dollar fell to the mid 99-yen levels in late Tokyo deals from the lower 100-yen range in early trade and lower 101-yen levels late Tuesday in Tokyo. The Japanese yen also gained against the euro.

The Australian dollar closed down 3.28% as ongoing fears about a global recession dragged commodity prices and high-yielding currencies lower. The Aussie finished the domestic session at US$0.6687-0.6692, down from Tuesday's close of US$0.6914-0.6919.

The New Zealand dollar fell against the U.S. dollar ahead of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's interest rate decision. The central bank is expected to cut the official cash rate by 100 basis points. The kiwi finished the domestic session at US$0.6020, down from US$0.6144 in early trade and US$0.6178 late Tuesday.

The South Korean won fell 3.1% against the dollar. The won finished the session at 1,362.0-1,363.1 a dollar, after hitting a low of 1,399.9 a dollar, its weakest since October 10, compared to Tuesday's domestic close of 1,320.1 a dollar.

The Philippines peso edged down to a new 18-month low against its US counterpart today morning in Asia. The peso plunged to 48.6650 against the US dollar, compared to yesterday's close of 48.1750.

Coming back in equities, the Japanese stock market tumbled nearly 7%, ending its three-day winning streak. Worries about the grim outlook for Japanese firms' earnings and a stronger yen dented investor sentiment. The market opened lower following an overnight retreat on Wall Street, but Japanese stocks widened their losses in the afternoon on a flurry of bad news that aggravated fears about the global slowdown. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average plunged 631.56 points or 6.79% to end at 8,674.69, posting its biggest loss in a week, and the broader Topix index of all first-section issues lost 67.41 points or 7.05% to 889.23.

On economic front, all industry activity index, which captures the monthly change in overall production by all industries of the Japanese economy, fell 1.8%. The indices of all industry activity except agriculture, forestry and fisheries declined 1.8% in August as compared to a 0.8% rise in July. Indices of Industrial Production plunged 4.1%, while indices of building work and indices of tertiary industry activity declined 2.4% and 1.4% respectively in the month of August as against the previous month.

In Mainland China, the benchmark index closed sharply lower after some key companies reported weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings, heightening worries about the impact of the global slowdown. In addition to this yesterday, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation said in a joint statement that China will raise export rebates on textiles, toys and apparel and some other products next month to support exporters amid declining external demand. The Shanghai Composite Index finished lower for a second day, down 62.71 points or 3.20% to end at 1,895.82 while the Shenzhen A-share Index fell 8.84 points or 1.62 pct to 536.53.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index struggled for a came back in the positive territory closing the day in negative territory. The benchmark index closed down by 5.15% at 14,266.50, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index slumped by 7.79% to 6,700.87.

The Australian stock market plunged more than 3% on profit taking after posting sharp gains in the previous two trading sessions. The key S&P/ASX index lost most of the previous session's gains, led by BHP Billiton and Westfield. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed down 146.4 points, or 3.4%, at 4,156.1, its lowest point for the day. The broader All Ordinaries index lost 131.4 points or 3.1% to 4,120.0.

On the economic front, Australia's rate of inflation increased by more than expected in the third quarter. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that the country's Consumer Price Index for the three months to September increased 1.2% over the previous quarter. Annually, CPI grew to 5.0%.

On the economic front, Statistics New Zealand reported that visitor arrivals in September dropped 7.0% to 157,700 from the 168,800 reported for September 2007. For the full year to September 2008, there were 2.469 million visitor arrivals, down 6,200 or less than 1% from the previous 12-month period. New Zealand resident departures were down 8.0% compared to September 2007.

The South Korean stock market plunged more than 5% to a new three year-low on deepening economic fears, extending its modest losses registered yesterday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index or Kospi closed down 61.51 points or 5.14% at 1,134.59 points, its lowest close since September 6, 2005. In intraday trading, the key index fell more than 8% to hit a low of 1,095.56. The Kospi has shed 22% over the month, and is down 40% from the year's high of 1,901 hit in mid-May.

In Taiwan, Taiex - the benchmark index continued to remain below the key 5,000 points level breaching the previous five-year low level. The weighted index closed down 80.13 points or 1.62% at 4,862.59 - the lowest level since 11 June 2003 when it ended at 4,804.65 points. The market was distracted by fears that an anti-government demonstration planned by the opposition for Saturday could turn violent.

On the economic front, Taiwan's unemployment rate was 4.27% in September, versus 4.14% in August and 3.99% in September 2007, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said. In the first nine months of the year, unemployment averaged 3.96%, versus 3.92% a year earlier. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the September unemployment rate was 4.12%, compared with 3.93% in August and 3.89% a year earlier.

In Malaysia, the Kula Lumpur composite index was down by 13.88 points or 1.51% at 904.28. On economic front, the international reserves of Bank Negara Malaysia amounted to RM371.8 billion, equivalent to USD107.6 billion as on 15 October 2008, 2% down from RM379.3 billion as recorded on 30 September 2008. The reserves position is sufficient to finance 8.7 months of retained imports and is 4 times the short-term external debt.

In India, the weakness prevailed on the regional bourses in mid-afternoon trade on declined in global markets, cautious outlook by IT firm Wipro and sustained selling by foreign funds. At 15.20 IST the BSE Sensex was down 522.16 points or 4.86%. The S&P CNX Nifty was down 5.33% to 3,062.40.

Elsewhere, the Philippines stock market tumbled 1.12% or 23.73 points to 2,093.01 while Singapore Strait Times was trading lower by 99.66 points or 5.19% trading at 1,821.13.

In other regional markets, European shares fell with commodity-sector firms leading decliners as BHP Billiton added to growing evidence that the global economy continues to deteriorate.

The U.K. FTSE 100 index fell 1.9% to 4,150.07, the German DAX 30 index dropped 2.5% to 4,662.77 and the French CAC-40 index slid 2.5% to 3,389.53.

The market gave away a large part of the last two days' gains on weak global markets, cautious outlook by IT firm Wipro and sustained selling by foreign funds. The BSE Sensex slumped 513.49 points or 4.81%. Though in the red, both the both the BSE Mid-Cap and Small-Cap indices outperformed the Sensex.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries fell more than 5.5%. Tata Steel fell more than 12% after Moody's Investors Service lowered outlook on corporate family rating to negative from stable. Sterlite Industries fell more than 10%. The market breadth was weak.

Down 6.79%, Japanese stocks led decline in Asian equities as poor US corporate results and falling commodity prices fanned worries of a protracted global economic slowdown. Stocks in Hong, China, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan were down by bewteen 1.62% to 5.07%.

European markets which opened after Indian market, fell on global recession worries. Key benchmark indices in France, Germany and UK fell by between 3.51% to 3.69%. Trading in US index futures suggested the Dow would fall 185 points at the opening bell.

The BSE 30-share Sensex lost 513.49 points or 4.81% to 10,169.90. The Sensex fell 555.17 points at day’s low of 10,128.22 in late trade. The index declined 198.84 points at the day's high of 10,484.85 in early trade.

The S&P CNX Nifty was down 169.75 points or 5.25% to 3,065.15.

After an earlier steep slide, the Sensex had risen 708.04 points or 7.09% in two trading sessions to 10,683.39 on Tuesday, 21 October 2008, from its close of 9,975.35 on 17 October 2008, boosted by a repo rate cut by the central bank and on short covering on the stock market regulator's warning to foreign funds against overseas lending of shares.

There has been a massive erosion in investors' wealth this year. The barometer index is down 10,117.09 points or 49.86% in the calendar year 2008 so far from its close of 20,286.99 on 31 December 2007. It is 11,036.87 points or 52.04% below its all-time high of 21,206.77 struck on 10 January 2008.

BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 3,087 crore today as compared to a turnover of Rs 3,882.49 crore on 21 October 2008.

Nifty October 2008 futures were at 3051, at a discount of 14.15 points as compared to spot closing of 3065.15. NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment turnover was Rs 50,046.83 crore, which was higher than Rs 49,845.05 crore on Tuesday, 21 October 2008.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was down 2.7% at 3,490.39 and the BSE Small-Cap index was down 2.02% at 4,111.67. Both the indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth was weak. On BSE, 778 shares advanced as compared to 1733 that declined. 77 shares remained unchanged.

India’s largest private sector company by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) fell 5.83% to Rs 1,315.55, ahead of Q2 September 2008 result tomorrow, 23 October 2008. The Bombay High Court, on Tuesday, 21 October 2008, allowed the central government to implead itself in the RIL-Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL) case on gas supply after RNRL said it had no problem to the government being a party in the matter. The hearing of the case is now likely to continue after Diwali vacation.

Reliance Infrastructure fell 6.56% despite 15.5% rise in net profit to Rs 288.97 crore on 51.11% rise in total income to Rs 2674.86 crore in Q2 September 2008 over Q2 September 2007.

Metal stocks declined on slump in metal prices on the London Metal Exchange. The BSE Metal index was down 7.9% and was the major loser from the sectoral indices on BSE. Sterlite Industries, Hindustan Zinc, National Aluminum Company, Steel Authority of India and Tata Steel fell by between 7.13% to 10.04%.

India’s largest steel maker by sales Tata Steel fell 12.04% after Moody's Investors Service lowered outlook on corporate family rating to negative from stable. The change in outlook reflects the more challenging operating conditions now facing Tata Steel UK as a result of the likely deterioration in demand in Europe and the UK in the next 18 months, with declining steel prices and reduced production volumes. Tata Steel, will declare Q2 September 2008 results on 24 October 2008.

India’s largest aluminum maker by sales Hindalco Industries skidded 5.67% reports it may sell a part of its Rs 2,081.34-crore stake in group companies, including Grasim Industries, Idea Cellular and Aditya Birla Nuvo, to raise funds to repay a part of the $3-billion bridge loan it obtained to buy Novelis.

Telecom stocks fell on reports telecom firms may have to shell out Rs 6,000 crore for failing to verify their customers. India's largest telecom services provider by market share Bharti Airtel fell more than 7.5%. India's second largest telecom services provider by market capitalisation Reliance Communications fell more than 8.5%. The government on Monday, 20 October 2008, announced that it would impose a fine of Rs 1,000 for every unverified subscriber.

Banking majors fell after recent gains on hopes lower rates will boost lending. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and State Bank of India fell by between 3.64% to 8.04%. The BSE's banking sector index Bankex declined 5.57%. ICICI Bank, State Bank of India and HDFC Bank have a weightage of 24.21%, 22.44% and 20.55%, respectively, in the Bankex.

Yes Bank was almost fell 2.92% in an otherwise weak market, as net profit jumped 40.50% to Rs 63.62 crore in Q2 September 2008 over Q2 September 2008.

Bank of India declined 6.41% after providing for Rs 108.60 crore on account of exposure to troubled US investment bank Lehman Brothers, in Q2 September 2008.

Power Finance Corporation fell 0.09% even on 16.70%rise in net profit to Rs 329.33 crore in Q2 September 2008 over Q2 September 2007.

The Reserve Bank of India cut repo rate by 100 basis points to 8% on 20 October 2008. The repo rate is the rate at which the RBI provides funds to banks against the collateral of government bonds for a day to three days.

IT stocks slumped on overnight fall in American depository receipts (ADRs) and on cautious outlook by IT major Wipro. Weak rupee which augurs well for the sector did not stem the slide. The BSE IT index fell 4.37%.

India's fourth largest IT exporter by sales Wipro fell 5.79% after it said the outlook is cautious in the near term given the extent of strain on the global economy. Wipro ADR fell 2.87% on Tuesday, 21 October 2008, ahead of the results. Wipro reported 56.13% spurt in net profit to Rs 852.50 crore on a 15.48% increase in total income to Rs 5551.60 crore in Q2 September 2008 over Q1 June 2008.

India's third largest IT exporter by sales Satyam Computer Services lost 2.93%. Its ADR skidded 1.63% overnight. The company raised its earnings guidance in rupee terms at the time of announcing Q2 September 2008 results on Friday, 17 October 2008.

India's second largest IT exporter by sales Infosys fell 3.56%. Infosys ADR lost 5.21% overnight. India's largest IT services provider by sales Tata Consultancy Services lost 2.63%, ahead of Q2 results today.

Infosys, Satyam Computer Services, Tata Consultancy Service and Wipro have a weightage of 55.06%, 16.01%, 10.45% and 7.09%, respectively, in the BSE IT index.

Geodesic rose 2.93% as net profit jumped 23.54% to Rs 48.95 in Q2 September 2008 over Q1 June 2008.

Educomp Solutions tumbled 11.47% on BSE, on profit taking, as net profit soared 51.40% to Rs 25.39 crore in Q2 September 2008 over Q1 June 2008.

The rupee weakened to a record low against the dollar on Wednesday as losses in the stock market fuelled concerns more foreigners would likely pare their risk exposure and repatriate investments. At the Interbank foreign exchange (Forex) market, the rupee, which ended steady at 49.00/49.01 yesterday, fell by 25 paise to 49.25 against the greenback.

PSU OMCs fell despite crude oil falling nearly $3 to hit a one-week low below $70 a barrel and extending a 4% slide in the previous session, on mounting worries that output cuts by Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will not be enough to offset slackening energy demand. BPCL, HPCL and Indian Oil Corporation fell by between 2.09% to 8.15%. Lower oil prices will reduce underrecoveries at the state-run oil firms on domestic sale of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene at a controlled price

Bongaigaon Refinery & Petrochemicals slumped 7.23%, on slipping into the red in Q2 September 2008

Most realty stocks declined today after yesterday’s rise despite hopes cut in lending rates will spur demand for residential properties. The BSE Realty index fell 7.57% and was the second major loser from the sectoral indices on BSE. Realty majors, DLF, Indiabulls Real Estate Unitech fell by between 5.05% to 12.75%.

BSE FMCG index rose 1.26% and was the only gainer from the sectoral indices on BSE. United Spirits, Hindustan Unilever and REI Agro rose by between 0.05% to 5.08%. India’s largest cigarette maker by sales ITC rose 3.05%. The company will announce the Q2 September 2008 result on 24 October 2008.

The markets are likely to be in a consolidation mood after yesterday’s surge, despite weakening of the Asian markets. While the key US indices posted moderate losses, better results from Apple and Yahoo cheered the Nasdaq After Hours Market. But with Samsung bowing out of the offer to acquire SanDisk could neutralize the fervor generated by Apple.

Dupont’s weak guidance could marginally affect Reliance, where we saw surge in prices on account of short covering. IT stocks like Oracle could be bought at declines. Do not read too much into the Norwegian Fund news. If the markets do rise discounting this news, book profits

Today markets are likely to open negative as there are negative cues coming from the US and other Asian markets. After yesterday’s strong trend, today one could witness some selling pressures on the back of weak sentiments and negative cues from other markets. There is no other news in the domestic macro economic front which could affect the market sentiments. Therefore domestic markets are likely to follow the trend of Asian and European markets. Since Asian markets opened with a blood bath one could expect the domestic markets to open with a negative gap. Short selling pressures could hack the markets further.

On Tuesday, domestic markets opened positive as the investors very receptive to the positive assertions made by our Honourable Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan singh day before yesterday. Further the other Asian markets also exuded signs of positive sentiments which helped the domestic markets close in green. After the opening there was some volatility in the trading, however in the later trading session sectors like Realty, CD and IT added buoyancy in the markets. Realty bourses have had suffered brutal hack in the previous trading days, therefore today it witnessed some value buying. In Consumer Durables sector, Titan was the top gainer with a phenomenal gain of 17.39%. However in Realty and IT, IndiaBull Realty and TCS were the fore runners with staggering gains of 27.65% and 12.86% respectively. During the trading session we expect the market to be trading with a negative gap.The BSE Sensex closed higher by 460.30 points at 10,683.39 and NSE Nifty ended up by 112.1 points at 3,234.90. The BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps closed with gains of 80.89 points at 3,587.24 and by 83.46 points at 4,196.28. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 10,750.20 and intraday low of 10,250.23.

On Tuesday, US markets tumbled on the back of cautious sentiments on the credit markets and the mixed results coming from several companies. On the other hand the credit markets are showing some improvement and the Fed is also buying commercial papers from the mutual funds in an effort to inject more liquidity in the markets. But the investors are still skeptic about the current economic scenario. Some companies that top the quarterly results were 3M, American Express, DuPont and Pfizer, however Blackrock, Caterpillar and Texas instruments missed the estimates. Crude oil futures for the month of November delivery fell $3.36 to $70.89 a barrel on New York Mercantile Exchange after touching the low of $69.77 a barrel. Oil tumbled below $71 as a stronger dollar hurt investor demand for commodities and outweighed concerns about an expected cut in OPEC output. The November contract expired at the close of trading Tuesday. Crude oil fof December delivery fell $2.21, to close at $72.18 a barrel.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed lower by 231.77 points at 9,033.66. NASDAQ index lost 73.35 points at 1,696.68 and the S&P 500 (SPX) also decreased by 30.35 points to close at 955.05 points.

Indian ADRs ended negative. In technology sector, Infosys slipped (5.2%) and Wipro lost by (1.63%) followed by Satyam that ended low by (3.83%) and Patni Computers closing low by (4.19%). In banking sector ICICI Bank was down by (2.87%), while HDFC Bank lost (4.14%). In telecommunication sector, Tata Communication declined by (4.32%), while MTNL was low by (6.05%). Sterlite Industries was down by (3.48%).

Today the major stock markets in Asia opened negative. The Shanghai Composite is trading low by 19.35 points, at 1,939.18. Hang Seng is low by 361.19 points at 14,685.36. Further Japan''s Nikkei is low by 368.94 points at 8,937.31. Straits Times is trading is also trading low by 62.62 points at 1,862.55 and South Korea’s Seoul Composite is low by 33.59 points at 1,162.58.

The FIIs on Tuesday stood as net sellers in equity and in debt. Gross equity purchased stood at Rs1870.20 Crore and gross debt purchased stood at Rs0.0 Crore, while the gross equity sold stood at Rs2710.30 Crore and gross debt sold stood at Rs227.70 Crore. Therefore, the net investment of equity and debt reported were (Rs840.10 Crore) and (Rs227.70 Crore) respectively.

On Tuesday, the partially convertible rupee ended at 49.04/06 per dollar, 0.1% weaker than Monday''s close of 48.97/98. The rupee fell to level of 49.15 during the trading. Rupee ended down as central bank strike hit volumes and due to dollar demand from importers.

On BSE, total number of shares traded was Rs. 26.46 crores and total turnover stood at Rs. 3,882.49 crores. On NSE, total volume of shares traded was Rs. 55.61 crores and total turnover was Rs 11,076.44 crores.

Top traded volumes on NSE Nifty – Reliance Petro with total traded volume of 20428352 shares, followed by ICICI with 13856773 shares, Idea Celluar with 13665405 shares, Suzlon with 12492181 shares and Unitech with 12099881 shares respectively.

On NSE Future and Options, total numbers of contracts traded in index futures were 1085573 with a total turnover of Rs 16375.17 Crore. Along with this total number of contracts traded in stock futures were 1093114 with a total turnover of Rs 13114.71 Crore. Total numbers of contracts for index options were 1163074 and total turnover was Rs 19682.64 Crore and total numbers of contracts for stock options were 49272 and notional turnover was Rs 672.53 Crore.

Today, Nifty would have a support at 3,085 and resistance at 3,205 and BSE Sensex has support at 10,025 and resistance at 10,495.

Weakness in global indices and expiry pressures in the derivates segment may weigh on the sentiment. Action today is likely to be stock-specific. However, the mood of the market is expected to remain negative on weak global indices and decline in FII inflows in domestic equities may drag the local indices decline further. Among the key indices, the Nifty is likely target 3250 in near term and on breaching this level it is likely to target 3300, while the index has a key support at 3200. The Sensex has a likely support at 10500 and may face resistance at 10850.

Stocks slumped Tuesday as mixed corporate earnings reports gave investors a reason to retreat after the previous session's big rally and Dow Jones tumbled 232 points at 9034 and the Nasdaq sank about 73 points at 1697.

Fall in US markets weighted heavely on the Indian floats trading on the US bourses. HDFC Bank was the major loser and tanked 6.05% while Infosys, Tata Motors, MTNL, Patni Computer, Rediff, VSNL, Wipro and Satyam slumped over 1-5% each. Dr Reddy ended with marginal gain of over 0.50%.

Crude oil prices slipped marginally, with the Nymex light crude oil for November delivery slipped $3.36 to close at $70.89 a barrel. In the commodity segment, the Comex gold for December series moved down by $22 to settle at $768 an ounce.

Gold prices dropped on Tuesday, 21 October, 2008 as other commodity prices like oil also slipped down. A strong dollar was the main reason behind this. Generally, a stronger dollar pressures demand for dollar-denominated commodities, such as crude oil and gold, which become more expensive for holders of other currencies. During the last week, precious metals, mainly gold, had dropped as traders tried to gain back some of the money that had lost in other markets. But silver prices rose today.

On Tuesday, Comex Gold for December delivery fell $22 (2.8%) to close at $768 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices fell to a low of $766.4 earlier during the day. On 17 March, 2008 prices had skyrocketed to a high of $1,034/ounce. But prices have dropped significantly since then. Last week, gold prices ended lower by 8.3%.

This year, gold prices have lost 8.4% till date. For the third quarter ended September, 2008, gold prices ended lower by 5.1%. It was the first quarterly loss for the yellow metal since the second quarter in FY 2007. Prior to that, the yellow metal ended second quarter with a marginal gain of 0.7%. For first quarter prices gained 10.7%.

On Tuesday, Comex silver futures for December delivery rose 38.5 cents (4%) to $10.075 an ounce. Last week, silver coughed up 12%. Till date, silver has lost 32% this year. Silver had ended month and quarter of September 2008 with a loss of 10%. For the second quarter, it had gained a paltry 1.4%. Silver had gained 16% in Q1. The metal also had gained for seven straight years.

In the crude market on Tuesday, Monday, crude prices fell by more than 5% and closed just above $70/barrel as OPEC hinted at a production cut at its 24 October, 2008 meeting due to the current low prices of crude.

Generally, a stronger dollar pressures demand for dollar-denominated commodities, such as crude oil and gold, which become more expensive for holders of other currencies. On the other hand, a lower dollar pushes up precious metal prices as their demand lessens as it becomes cheaper for traders holding other currencies. Gold has traditionally been used as a safe-haven asset against rising inflation. Investor sentiments are boosted by the fact that gold and silver are alternate sources of good investment in the face of declining dollar and rising energy prices and vice versa.

In the currency market on Tuesday, the dollar rose to the highest level in 20 months against the euro, as investors focused on the U.S. financial rescue package and further stimulus hoped to provide a needed boost to the economy. The dollar index, the weighted basket of six major currencies, climbed to the highest since March 2007. The dollar rose to a 19-month high against the euro on bets that the European Central Bank will cut borrowing costs at a faster pace than the Federal Reserve.

Earlier this year, the weakening dollar and higher global demand for raw materials had led to records this year for commodities including gold. Gold reached a record in March as a U.S. housing slump and credit crisis spurred the Federal Reserve to slash borrowing costs. The Federal Reserve halted cuts to its target bank lending rate in April, after slicing it in seven steps to 1.5% currently from 5.25% in September, 2007.

Gold had witnessed the greatest annual gain in twenty eight years by gaining $200/ounce (31%) in FY 2007 as lower interest rates had sent the dollar tumbling, and crude-oil prices rose to a record. Silver had climbed 16% in FY 2007. In 2006, silver had jumped 46% while gold gained 23%.

At the MCX, gold prices for December delivery closed lower by Rs 280 (2.25%) at Rs 12,370 per 10 grams. Prices rose to a high of Rs 12,748 per 10 grams and fell to a low of Rs 12,307 per 10 grams during the day’s trading.

At the MCX, silver prices for December delivery closed Rs 157 (0.9%) higher at Rs 17,704/Kg. Prices opened at Rs 17,640/kg and rose to a high of Rs 17,750/Kg during the day’s trading.

Crude prices fell today, Tuesday, 21 October, 2008 and closed at the $70 level once again. Prices fell as Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) mulled over a production cut at its 24 October, meeting at Vienna for the current low crude prices. The strong dollar was the main reason for the falling crude price. Last week, OPEC had cut its 2009 demand forecast because of ``dramatically worsening'' conditions in financial markets.

Crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for November delivery closed at $70.89/barrel (lower by $3.36 or 4.5%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices reached a high of $147 on 11 July but have dropped almost 52% since then. Last week, prices dropped by 7.5%. On a yearly basis, crude price is lower by 20%. For this year in 2008, crude prices have dropped 27%. The November contract expired today. The more-active December contract fell $2.21 (3%) to settle at $72.18 a barrel.

Chakib Khelil, OPEC’s president said yesterday that OPEC might pare production by 1 million to 2 million barrels a day in stages at an 24 October meeting to stabilize prices.

In the currency market on Tuesday, the dollar rose to the highest level in 20 months against the euro, as investors focused on the U.S. financial rescue package and further stimulus hoped to provide a needed boost to the economy. The dollar index, the weighted basket of six major currencies, climbed to the highest since March 2007. The dollar rose to a 19-month high against the euro on bets that the European Central Bank will cut borrowing costs at a faster pace than the Federal Reserve.

In the latest monthly prediction, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said last week that global oil consumption will grow 550,000 barrels a day this year compared with a year ago, down 330,000 barrels from last month's forecast. Total consumption will stand at 86.5 million barrels a day. For the next year, demand will grow 800,000 barrels a day, down 100,000 barrels from OPEC's September prediction.

The Energy Information Administration, the statistics arm of the U.S. Energy Department, also lowered its growth outlook for this year's global oil consumption by 350,000 barrels from a month ago last week.

For the third quarter of the year crude prices ended lower by 28%. This was the biggest quarterly drop since 1991. Before that, crude prices had gained 38% in the second quarter of this year. It was the biggest quarterly increase in nine years. For the month of September, prices registered drop of 13%.

Against this background, November reformulated gasoline fell 2.8 cents, or 1.6%, to end at $1.6919 a gallon. November heating oil fell 3.3 cents, or 1.5%, to close at $2.1771 a gallon.

November natural-gas futures finished at $6.844 per million British thermal units, up 10.3 cents.

At the MCX, crude oil for November delivery closed at Rs 3,589/barrel, lower by Rs 156 (4.1%) against previous day’s close. Natural gas for November delivery closed at Rs 348.2/mmbtu, higher by Rs 0.3/mmbtu (0.08%).

EIA will report the latest inventory status of crude and crude products tomorrow at 10 am E.T from Washington.

Weak Asian stocks may pull the market lower after last two days’ rebound from an earlier steep fall caused by global recession worries. Cautious outlook by IT firm Wipro at the time of announcing Q2 results today and sustained selling by foreign funds may continue to weigh on the sentiments. But short covering following the stock market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India’s warnings to foreign funds against overseas lending of shares and signs of a soft credit policy may cap the downside.

At the time of announcement of Q2 September 2008 results just a while back, Wipro said the global economic environment has deteriorated significantly over the past couple of months, and our outlook is cautious in the near term given the extent of strain on the global economy. Wipro’s net profit rose 19% to Rs 978 crore on 36% growth in revenue to Rs 6507 crore in Q2 September 2008 over Q2 September 2007.

Asian stocks fell as poor US corporate results and falling commodity prices fanned worries of a protracted global economic slowdown. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, China, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan were down by between 0.9% to 3%.

The market regulator Sebi, on Monday, 20 October 2008, said it has disapproved overseas lending and borrowing activity of foreign funds and the consequent selling pressure in the cash market in India. Sebi said this after data showed FIIs had lent equities worth Rs 348 crore to overseas entities for the purpose of short selling, during 10 October-14 October 2008.

Signs of a soft interest rate regime may support stocks as lower interest rates means lower borrowing costs for corporates. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on Monday, 20 October 2008, cut the repo rate, by 100 basis points to 8%, with immediate effect. The repo rate is the rate at which the RBI provides funds to banks against the collateral of government bonds for a day to three days.

Oil fell over $1 to around $71 a barrel on Wednesday, 22 October 2008, extending a 4% slide in the previous session, on mounting worries that output cuts by the oil cartel Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) will not be enough to offset slackening energy demand in leading consumers.

The Sensex jumped 708.04 points or 7.09% in two trading sessions to 10,683.39 on Tuesday, 21 October 2008, from its close of 9,975.35 on 17 October 2008.

US Market ended Tuesday, 21 20 October, 2008 with substantial losses. Earning reports dominated market sentiments since the very morning. Quite a few Dow components reported earnings today morning which were very mixed in nature. Market started the day in the red and continued its journey in the red throughout the day. The weakness in market was broadcasted. The energy sector was a main laggard with crude prices once again slipping back to $70/barrel. Technology sector was another setback as Texas Instruments plunged considerably.

During the afternoon session, indices had pared half of their losses with help from the financial sector. American Express was trying to give some solid direction. But in the last hour, indices plunged once again.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day down by 231 points, to 9,033. The Nasdaq Composite Index, finished lower by 73 points at 1,696. S&P 500 finished lower by 30 points at 955.

Twenty six out of thirty Dow stocks was trading in the red led by Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Citigroup, Caterpillar and Du Pont.

Among the batch of today’s earning reports, some notable names that topped third quarter earnings estimates included 3M, American Express, DuPont and Pfizer. American Express reported a smaller-than-forecast 24% profit fall for the third quarter late on Monday.

But there were a few that missed expectations too. Caterpillar reported a third-quarter profit decline of 6% from the year-ago period, but held firm to its full year profit estimate. Chemical giant DuPont slipped 6.2% after cutting its earnings outlook.

Technology sector was considerably weak today following gloomy outlook from Texas Instrument and earnings miss from Sun Microsystems. Texas Instruments posted a larger-than-expected 17% decline in earnings per share and lowered its fourth quarter earnings outlook, citing weak orders. On the other hand, Sun Microsystems forecast a larger than expected loss for the year.

In the latest effort to solve the credit crisis in recent times, the Fed announced that it will buy commercial paper (short-term corporate debt that many businesses rely on) from money market mutual funds. The Fed said it created the facility because money market mutual funds and other investors have had difficulty selling assets to satisfy redemption requests and meet portfolio rebalancing needs. The Fed had already announced plans to buy commercial paper directly from companies.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange exceeded 1.1 billion, and decliners topped advancers more than 2 to 1. On the Nasdaq, almost 899 million shares traded, and one stock traded higher for every three on the decline.

Crude prices fell today and closed at the $70 level once again. Prices fell as Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) mulled over a production cut at its 24 October, meeting at Vienna for the current low crude prices. The strong dollar was the main reason for the falling crude price. Crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for November delivery closed at $70.89/barrel (lower by $3.36 or 4.5%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The more-active December contract fell $2.21 (3%) to settle at $72.18 a barrel.

In the currency market on Tuesday, the dollar rose to the highest level in 20 months against the euro, as investors focused on the U.S. financial rescue package and further stimulus hoped to provide a needed boost to the economy. The dollar index, the weighted basket of six major currencies, climbed to the highest since March 2007. The dollar rose to a 19-month high against the euro on bets that the European Central Bank will cut borrowing costs at a faster pace than the Federal Reserve.

Earning reports will dominate the sentiment tomorrow as a number of Dow components are expected to come out with their earning results. AT&T, Boeing, Mc Donalds and Merck are the major ones among them. Among economic reports for the day, the weekly inventory report by the energy department is expected to be the major one.

We may go to the moon, but that's not very far. The greatest distance we have to cover still lies within us.

The bulls may have expected to soar like the Chandrayaan - the name of India's unmanned spacecraft to moon, which successfully took off this morning. However, the gravity of the situation is such that after two days of solid gains, things are likely to cool down a little. Nothing earth shaking has happened though. US stocks slid overnight as mixed corporate earnings offset the continuing softening in global inter-bank lending rates. European shares too ended lower amid growing pessimism towards earnings growth, notwithstanding the thaw in world credit markets for a third straight day. Markets in Asia have also opened on a soft note.

We expect the Indian market to open lower, as the two-day rally has largely been on account of short covering. The wide section of the market still lacks confidence to make a full-fledged return. Given the persistent uncertainty over the impact of the credit crisis on the global economy and weak macro-economic factors we will continue to advocate caution. We have miles to go before the smiles can come back.

Meanwhile, Wipro has reported a consolidated net profit of Rs9.78bn for the second quarter ended September 30, 2008 as against Rs8.98bn in the previous quarter, translating into a sequential growth of about 9%. The Bangalore-based IT major has posted consolidated net sales of Rs65.19bn for the July-September quarter compared to Rs59.81bn in the April-July quarter. Global IT Revenue for the quarter in dollar terms is at $1.11bn. The company has predicted Global IT Revenue of $1.12bn in Q3 FY09, which is flat.

FIIs were net sellers of Rs2.58bn (provisional) in the cash segment on Tuesday while the local institutions poured in Rs8.84bn. In the F&O segment, the foreign funds were net buyers at Rs9.15bn. On Monday, FIIs were net sellers of Rs8.4bn in the cash segment, taking their total outflows this year to above $11.9bn.

US stocks slumped in the wake of some missed earnings reports and bleak forecasts, especially by technology companies, giving investors a reason to step back after the previous session's big rally.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 30.35 points, or 3.1%, to 955.05. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 231.77, or 2.5%, to 9,033.66. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 73.35, or 4.1%, to 1,696.68.

Market breadth was negative. More than five stocks fell for each that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.

Lending rates continued to improve, helping to reassure investors that the efforts to try and stabilise global financial markets continue to bear fruit. But relief about the credit markets was countered by broader fears about a recession and the health of US companies.

Treasury prices rallied, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 3.70% from 3.84% late on Monday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

US light crude oil for November delivery fell $3.36 to settle at $70.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after hitting a 13-month low last week. Oil prices have been slowing since crude peaked at an all-time high of $147.27 a barrel on July 11.

Gasoline prices fell another 3.4 cents overnight, to a national average of $2.889 a gallon, according to a survey of credit-card activity by motorist group AAA. It was the 34th consecutive day that prices have decreased - in the past month alone, they're down more than 93 cents a gallon.

COMEX gold for December delivery fell $22 to $768 an ounce.

After the close, Yahoo reported earnings of four cents a share, versus 11 cents a year ago and short of analysts' forecasts for a profit of 9 cents per share. The company also said it will cut at least 10% of its workforce, or around 1,500 people, through the end of the year as a result of the weak economy.

Also after the close, Apple reported fourth-quarter sales and earnings that jumped from a year ago due to strong sales of its new iPhone. Earnings topped forecasts, while sales missed expectations.

Looking forward, Apple forecast fiscal first-quarter sales and earnings that are short of analysts' projections. The company said forecasting the December quarter was a challenge because of the weak economy. Shares gained 4% in extended-hours trading.

The French CAC-40 rose 0.8% to 3,477.50, with banks performing well after the French government said that it would inject 10.5 billion euros ($14 billion) into the country's top six banks.

Markets opened with a positive gap led by firm cues from the US and the Asian markets. However, nervousness in early trades saw the key indices erase early gains. However, as the day progressed buying in the IT, realty and capital goods stocks lifted the Indian bourses to end with smart gains. The BSE benchmark Sensex surged 460 points or 4.5% to close 10,683 and the NSE Nifty index was up 112 points to close at 3,234.

Among the 30-components of Sensex, 28 stocks were in the positive terrain and 2 stocks were in the red.

Titan Industries rallied by over 17% to Rs997 after the company’s net income in the three months ended September 30 rose 88% to Rs871.4mn. Sales rose to Rs10.9bn in the quarter from Rs7.11bn a year ago. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs1013 and a low of Rs860 and recorded volumes of over 1,00,000 shares on BSE.

Shares of Sun TV surged by over 4% to Rs173 after the company announced that it would consider buying back of equity shares on October 30, 2008. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs179 and a low of Rs170 and recorded volumes of over 5,000 shares on BSE.

LIC Housing Finance rallied by over 7% to Rs243 after the company announced results for the quarter ended September 30, 2008

The Company posted a net profit after tax of Rs1350.6mn (up 16%) for the quarter ended September 30, 2008 as compared to Rs1163.78mn for the quarter ended September 30, 2007.

Total Income rose to Rs7077.23mn up by 34.8% for the quarter ended September 30, 2008 from Rs5247.70mn for the quarter ended September 30, 2007. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs249 and a low of Rs224 and recorded volumes of over 5,00,000 shares on BSE.

Shares of Marico surged by over 7% to Rs55 after the company announced its consolidated results for the quarter ended September 30, 2008

The Group has posted a net profit of Rs471.24mn (up 11.5%) for the quarter ended September 30, 2008 as compared to Rs422.36mn for the quarter ended September 30, 2007.

Total Income increased by 30% to Rs6047.18mn for the quarter ended September 30, 2008 from Rs4643.03mn for the quarter ended September 30, 2007.

Shares of Opto Circuits advanced by over 6% to Rs148.9 after the company announced that it posted a net profit for the period of Rs567.293mn (up 104%) for the quarter ended September 30, 2008 as compared to Rs278.105mn for the quarter ended September 30, 2007.

The total income increased by 125% to Rs2203.85mn for the quarter ended September 30, 2008 from Rs977.33mn for the quarter ended September 30, 2007.

The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs151 and a low of Rs143 and recorded volumes of over 4,00,000 shares on BSE.

Shares of Crompton Greaves surged by over 6% to Rs178 after the company announced results for the quarter ended September 30, 2008.

The group posted a net profit from ordinary activities after tax, minority interest and share of profit / (loss) of associate companies of Rs1201.2mn (up 32.1%) for the quarter ended September 30, 2008 where as the same was at Rs909.4mn for the quarter ended September 30, 2007.

Total Income rose by 32.4% to Rs21052.8mn for the quarter ended September 30, 2008 where as the same was at Rs15895.8mn for the quarter ended September 30, 2007.

Current period figures include the results of the subsidiary acquired during the current period, Consequently, the figures for the current period are not comparable with the figures of the previous period and figures for the previous period have been regrouped and reclassified, wherever necessary.

SAIL announced Q2 results for the quarter ended September 30, 2008.

The company posted a net profit from the ordinary activity after tax of Rs20096mn (up 18.1%) for the quarter ended September 30, 2008 as compared to Rs17002.4mn for the quarter ended September 30, 2007.

Total Income increased by 33.7% to Rs126609.9mn for the quarter ended September 30, 2008 from Rs94677.5mn for the quarter ended September 30, 2007

The stock down by 2.5% to Rs105 after hitting an intra-day high of Rs110 and a low of Rs101 and recorded volumes of over 26,00,000 shares on BSE.

Stick to the frontline stocks and lock in gains at higher levels. Keep some cash handy to take advantage when the market eases further. Wait for a clear signal of stability from the market before stepping up the shopping spree.

We recommend a buy in Tata Chemicals from a short-term horizon. It evident from the charts of Tata Chemicals that it was on an intermediate-term downtrend from its 52-week high of Rs 440 (recorded on May 29), forming lower bottoms and lower peaks. During early September, the stock’s intermediate-term downtrend accelerated and the stock witnessed a sharp decline. In a short span of four weeks, the stock lost almost 54 per cent as it tumbled from Rs 330 to Rs 150.

However, the stock found support at Rs 150 (long-term support level, 2005 low) and bounced up shaping a bullish engulfing candlestick pattern, a bullish reversal pattern. Reinforcing the bullishness, the stock surged 5 per cent accompanied with above average volume on October 21. Both the daily and weekly relative strength indexes have recovered from the oversold zone.

The daily moving average convergence and divergence is signalling a buy. We are bullish on the stock from a short-term perspective. We expect the stock to rally until it hits our price target of Rs 195 in the approaching trading sessions. Traders with short-term perspective can buy the stock while maintaining a stop-loss at Rs 168

The Securities Exchange Board of India on Tuesday released the second set of data on securities lent overseas by FIIs between October 15 and October 17.

NTPC is on the top , with more than 21.19 lakh of its shares lent to overseas investors, the SEBI data showed.

The data was compiled from reports submitted by 33 of 34 participatory notes-issuing FIIs, said SEBI.

The regulator intends to study the data to check for correlation between overseas lending of these securities and domestic sale of shares by FIIs.

Analysts said it is too early to tell if such securities lending by FIIs leads to selling in the domestic market.

The stock price of NTPC, for instance, recorded a drop of more than nine per cent from October 15 to October 20, but analysts said there were so many factors at play.

The second stock on the list was Hindustan Unilever Ltd (15.75 lakh shares). This stock rose 3.50 per cent from October 15 to October 20.

Reliance Capital, of which more than 7.28 lakh shares were lent to overseas investors, fell more than 8 per cent during the period, while L&T, 6.32 lakh shares of which were lent, fell 9.15 per cent.

BHEL, whose shares were also lent, fell by close to 21 per cent between October 15 and October 20.

FIIs have been net sellers for Rs 48,368 crore or about $12 billion in 2008, according to the data on SEBI Web site.

SEBI had last week asked FIIs and their agents to provide information of Indian securities lent to entities overseas, which would have the effect of a short sale in the security in the Indian market.

It had announced it would give details of lending by overseas funds and their sub-accounts abroad on a consolidated basis twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, providing the first set of data on Oct. 17.SEBI displeasure

Later on Monday, SEBI said it disapproves of the overseas lending/borrowing activity of FIls and the consequent selling pressure in the cash market in India. It also said that it has communicated its disapproval to FIls.

It has also warned that if necessary stronger measures will be taken.

There is some speculation in the market on what these stronger measures would constitute. A ban on short selling by FIIs was the most common speculation. In fact, part of the reason for the gain in stocks on Tuesday was attributed to SEBI’s implied warning to FIIs that it does not approve of short selling in Indian securities.

“In any free market there should be no ban on short selling, but a fool-proof mechanism should be worked out,” said Mr Manish Sonthalia, VP-Equity Strategy, Motilal Oswal financial Services.

While the regulator has indicated that they are still studying the data, they have already expressed their disapproval of overseas lending and borrowing of Indian shares, he said.

According to the SEBI Web site there are 1,541 registered FIIs as on October 21, 2008, while there are 4,735 registered sub-accounts